Many overcome mental illness challenges

[caption id="attachment_39843" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Scott Dekraai, left, who is accused of killing his ex-wife and seven others in a massacre in a crowded salon in Seal Beach, Calif., with his new attorney Deputy Public Defender Scott Sanders at Superior Court of Orange County, in Santa Ana, Calif. on Monday."][/caption]

Scott Dekraai's mass murder of innocents in the peaceful community of Seal Beach was horrific. My heart goes out to every family and individual touched by this needless, senseless tragedy. I join those who believe the most severe punishment administered as soon as legally possible is the only option the courts should consider.

In addition, my brain is screwed up. I am fortunate to be under the care of a determined psychiatrist, without whom I would have much more difficulty and far less success coping with lifelong challenges created by ADD, major depression and generalized anxiety. These are mental disorders with biological/chemical/genetic roots.

They are not character weaknesses. They are not the product of eager psychiatrists or a profit-driven pharmaceutical industry.

People with mental illness are not all latent sociopaths; far from it. We are parents and children, friends and neighbors, co-workers and executives. We are people facing challenges those letter-writers should be thankful aren't part of their family tree [More letters on Seal Beach shooting].

Biden's latest blast

NEWPORT BEACH, Jeff Morgan: Vice President Joe Biden missed an opportunity to have a civic teaching moment on the proper role of government, and what happens when that government cannot stop spending. Instead he chose to swap a teaching moment for a political moment.

It is a pathetic example of responsible leadership for Joe Biden to tell little schoolchildren that increased taxes will bring back their teachers, which is to make a political statement to polarize and oppose those who want to control spending without increased taxation [VP Biden Visits York elementary school]. Teaching how to take from others to spend more was the more accurate message, or how to take more and still do less. It is correct that the majority of government institutions are broke, but this is because of careless government bureaucrats.

Education and teachers are vital to our future, and we need to support them. It may be that the immediate solution is to increase taxes, but government is accountable for having created the problem. We should be highly suspect of further government intervention. Government has a reputation for mismanagement, and politicians have a reputation for distorting the facts. Joe Biden did not miss his opportunity to accordingly deliver on this.

Incompetence on trial

TUSTIN, Danny Nitzen: In watching the testimony being given by Dr. Steven Shafer at the Michael Jackson/Dr. Conrad Murray trial, it's hard to believe, given the wealth Michael Jackson had, that Murray was the best personal physician this celebrity's managers could find.

Based on how Shafer testified, what Murray did in treating Michael Jackson's heath problems brings an new meaning to the word “incompetence.”

Election 2012 sparring

LAGUNA WOODS, Andy Allaire: Letter-writer Jacque Doiron laments that Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul isn't getting enough love from the media outlets [“Ron Paul still written off,” Oct. 24]. What Ron Paul supporters don't seem to understand is this: You are a very sincere, loyal, outspoken and deeply committed group of people; however, there aren't a lot of you.

You may be able to drown out a small crowd of people at any given event, however, in a large scale population you are but a drop of water in a vast sea. In my opinion, Ron Paul would not carry 20 percent of the voters in a general election. Libertarians just don't have a solid platform on which to pull the masses to their agenda.

Ron Paul has some pretty good ideas on what he would do as president. And, then again, Ron Paul has some of the nuttiest ideas that couldn't get him elected as a dog chaser (in a general election.) And that's just the simple plain truth.

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SAN CLEMENTE, Lee A. Miller: It is now clear that presidential candidate Herman Cain knows how to run something while President Barack Obama knows how to run from something.

Firefighters on call

SAN CLEMENTE, Danny DeAngelis, South Pasadena fire department captain: The article, “On-duty firefighters at game criticized” [Local, Oct. 24], referred to three on-duty firefighters seen at a Pop Warner football game in Costa Mesa. Chris Cox, president of Costa Mesa Pop Warner, made the complaint against them.

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